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Wendy Deng and Twitter's Tenuous Hold on the Truth January 04, 2012 Wendi Deng, wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, started out the year by discovering that her name had been hijacked by a spoofer on Twitter. Twitter had apparently verified the account, "Wendi_Deng," as genuine, but after being informed it was a hoax, quickly removed it and apologized to Deng.

Anonymous Implicated in 'Robin Hood' Hack on Christmas Day December 27, 2011 Hackers claiming to belong to the Anonymous hacking community broke into the servers of private think tank Stratfor over the holiday weekend. They stole thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information, and also claim to have stolen the company's list of confidential clients. This includes organizations such as the United States Air Force and the Miami Police Department.

IBM's Tech Predictions Prompt Deep Thoughts, Chuckles December 20, 2011 IBM looked into its crystal ball and saw five technologies becoming ubiquitous in the next five years. While IBM spends most of its time, effort and intelligence in the innards of big organizations, the five technologies it sees on the horizon are very personal. For example, we'll be able to use our own motion, as well as motion around us, to harness energy. IBM imagines extending this concept to running water.

Malware in the Office, in the Sky and on the Phone October 11, 2011 October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and various federal agencies are ringing it in with a couple of slaps to the head and a kick or two to the shins. First, the Government Accountability Office issued a report that stated 24 major federal agencies have inadequate IT security.

Defending the Mobile Universe From a Fraudster Onslaught September 03, 2011 The mobile age has arrived. In 2011, global shipments of smartphones and tablet devices surpassed shipments of laptops and desktop PCs, laying the groundwork for an era in which consumers are increasingly using mobile technology for everything from airline reservations to vehicle purchases. The mobile age snuck up on many of us, but fraudsters have been eagerly waiting for its rise.

Lawmakers Spar Over Cybersecurity Legislation July 26, 2011 The Congressional debate over the U.S. budget has been in the limelight for months, but other critical issues are proving difficult to resolve as well. A case in point is the goal of lawmakers to develop a comprehensive national cybersecurity policy. There are many conflicting approaches to the issue.

Sony's Exec Changes Fail to Impress July 01, 2011 Several weeks after the Sony PlayStation Network was brought to its knees by a massive security breach, the company has decided to clean house with an executive reshuffling. Among the changes: Akira Sato, chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, and Ken Kutaragi, honorary chairman, will retire, effective almost immediately.

PCI DSS Compliance: Failure Is Not an Option June 25, 2011 The average American credit cardholder carries 3.5 credit cards, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's 2010 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice. Today, consumers use credit cards to pay for more than just large-ticket items. Everything from household items and utilities to insurance premiums and student loans are tallying up charges on the average monthly statement.

Security, Security, Security June 18, 2011 It's time for corporations to wise up and use the latest, most effective weapons to safeguard and secure their data. High-tech devices, software applications, emails, user accounts, social media and networks -- even those presumed safe -- are being hacked with alarming alacrity and ease. Security tools, encryption and patches are certainly necessary, but they are not enough.

No Time Like the Present for Detecting Data Breaches June 16, 2011 For almost a year, service providers and their clients have been the focus of spear-phishing and other intrusions that have resulted in large-scale direct and indirect data breaches. It's scary stuff, and the worst of it is far from over. Largely, these breaches have come in two flavors: system intrusion with direct compromise of data, and client credential compromise.

NSTIC: Pretty in Theory, Problematic in Practice May 28, 2011 The official vision of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace is a government-coordinated, private-sector initiative to increase the security of the Internet. In their words: "Individuals and organizations utilize secure, efficient, easy-to-use, and interoperable identity solutions to access online services in a manner that promotes confidence, privacy, choice and innovation."

Sony Tallies $171M in Data Breach Losses... and Counting May 24, 2011 The breach of Sony's PlayStation Network will cost the company at least US$171 million according to the company's preliminary financial forecast released on Monday -- the latest predictions for its fiscal year ending March 2012. The total figure will likely grow. . . and grow.

Sony Breach Spurs Call for Tough Legislation May 10, 2011 A key element in the shifting political winds in Washington is a call for less business regulation, especially from the conservative wing of the now ascendant Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. But one leading Republican last week tossed that mantra aside and launched into a tirade of criticism of Internet enterprises and promised to pursue enactment of tougher federal regulation to protect consumer privacy.

LastPass' Precautionary Move Sets Some Teeth on Edge May 09, 2011 LastPass is a password manager. Users rely on it to store the myriad user names and passwords they inevitably collect as they go about their business on the Web. With LastPass, they only have to remember one single master password. LastPass handles the rest -- including, presumably, security. That customer-company relationship was shaken this week when the site realized there were some network traffic anomalies.

Sony Sweating a Possible Weekend Invasion May 06, 2011 The hackers who penetrated Sony's PlayStation Network, Qriosity music service and Sony Online Entertainment are planning to launch another major attack against the company this weekend, according to a reader of an Internet Relay Chat channel used by the hackers. The hackers claim to have access to Sony's servers and plan to publicly post all or some of the information they can pilfer, which could include names, credit card numbers and addresses.

The Sony Wake-up Call: Time to Get Serious About Data Protection May 06, 2011 Most of the talk about protecting users' privacy on the Web has centered on preventing the collection of information that would aid companies in creating targeted ad campaigns. I appreciate the efforts of all those people pushing for legislation that would protect me from the annoyance of spam emails and popup ads. But I wish they would expend more time and energy looking for ways to stop data breaches like the Sony debacle.

White House Gets the Ball Rolling on Single Credential Online ID System May 03, 2011 The Obama administration has come up with a proposal for both improving and simplifying identity protection for consumers using the Internet, computers, and mobile devices. The plan would greatly reduce the need for consumers to use and remember multiple passwords or fill out separate privacy forms for multiple online accounts.

Sony Victimized by High-Tech 'Bank Robbers' May 03, 2011 The closer you look, the uglier it gets. More evidence about the Sony hacking has emerged. Apparently, Sony Online Entertainment was part of the target when the Sony PlayStation Network was hacked. SOE handles online multilayer games. The SOE hacking was part of the Sony breach in mid-April that left the PlayStation Network down for the past two weeks, when hackers grabbed data from as many as 70 million accounts.

Hacker Chatter Suggests Thieves Have Millions of PSN Customers' Credit Cards April 29, 2011 Hackers are reportedly attempting to sell 2.2 million credit card numbers stolen from the PlayStation Network database. Sony earlier said customers' personal data was encrypted; however, the company could not rule out the possibility that hackers might have accessed it. By Thursday, security researchers had seen talk on underground forums of hackers hoping to sell credit card lists for as much as $100,000.

Storm Clouds Darken Over Sony April 27, 2011 Sony confirmed that its recent site outages were caused by compromised security in a blog post on Tuesday. Between April 17 and 19, hackers gained access to PlayStation Network and Qriocity user account information, the company revealed, and its shutdown of PSN and Qriocity on April 20 was a reaction to that security breach. Already irritated by the network downtime, many users are now outraged by news that their data has been exposed.